An Introduction To Aveda

 Ms. Linda Lee, General Manager Aveda Malaysia

Ever since Aveda opened its first outlet at Pavilion in August 2012, I have made a mental note to check out their products but it seems that every time I passed the outlet, I was in a hurry to leave Pavilion. Well, an invitation from Aveda for a Bloggers’ Styling Discovery Session was timely as there was much I wanted to ask about the brand and its products. I can be quite nosey but all for the sake of sharing the information!

Aveda (pronounced “ah-vay-da” and NOT “ah-vee-da”) was founded in 1978 by Horst Rechelbacher in Minneapolis, Minnesota, The name means “knowledge of the whole” or “all knowledge” in Sanskrit. Horst Rechelbacher was a celebrity hairdresser who opened his 1st hair salon in the USA. He acquired Ayurvedic knowledge in Nepal.

Horst formulated Aveda’s first product, a clove shampoo (still available today) in his kitchen sink and the brand fast became a leader in botanical beauty and professional hair care. Aveda’s focus is on environmental awareness – innovating botanical technologies and rituals of wellness to promote beauty and balance, while pursuing an ambitious social and environmental agenda.

Aveda outlets are called Experience Centers where visitors get treated in a unique manner. Visitors to aveda Experience Centers are offered a comforting cup of tea and treated to an aroma sensory ritual with their Blue Oil, stress relieving hand ritual and stress relieving neck and shoulder massage. I wasn’t feeling that well at the beginning of the session as I was recovering from a bout of fever. The Blue Oil was massaged on my neck and shoulders and as soon as I inhaled the scent, I perked up. I felt a tingling sensation and just felt so much better. I’d love to have a bottle of Blue Oil around every time I get stressed or tired or feeling under the weather.

In Singapore, Aveda hair care products are available in 25 hair salons and Aveda is currently the 4th largest professional hair care supplier in Singapore. Aveda also offers natural hair colours with certified organic lavender aroma.

 Hair colours

Aveda Beauty Consultants/Advisors/Promoters are called “Daymakers” which I think is really appropriate as taking someone on a sensory journey within the calm and serene ambience and surroundings of an Aveda Experience Center can really make one’s day. I know it would make my day if someone were to give me the Blue Oil treatment again.

Although Aveda has hair care products for every hair concern, their international bestselling product is the Invati range which they describe as “nature’s solution to thinning hair”. The key ingredients are turmeric, ginseng and babassu. I admit I’d never heard of babassu until yesterday but it is grown in Brazil. Aveda’s ingredients are sourced directly from the farmers as the brand believes in giving back to society and places utmost importance on conservation.

Invati products

Babassu is a tall palm tree with feathery leaves that grows wild in tropical northeastern Brazil. Babassu oil is harvested from the kernels of its hard-shelled nuts. In the Invati range are 3 products:-

• Exfoliating shampoo : removes build-up that can clog pores and renews the scalp.
  
• Thickening conditioner : restores strength and improves hair elasticity, reducing breakage.
• Scalp revitalizer : helps energize and rehabilitate the scalp.

Babassu replaces SLS as a cleansing/foaming agent. The Invati range is suitable for men and women.

Aveda has styling products for every hair type. For curly hair, the range is be curly – there’s shampoo, conditioner, style-prep, curl enhancer and hair spray. The style-prep is applied after towel drying hair, the curl enhancer is applied when hair is 70-80% dry and the hair spray fixes the curls after hair is completely dry.

 be curly range

The be curly products (except the shampoo and conditioner) were used on my hair after it’s been curled with tongs. It all felt very lightweight. Even the hair spray didn’t have a heavy feel or chemical scent. All the products felt so natural.

 Curls for a change!

Look at Fatin’s curls, so lush and dense, beautiful!

 Curls galore!

There are currently 320 SKUs in Malaysia with more to come presumably. Aveda certainly has a lot to offer consumers. There’s lots of body and skin care products as well. The soaking salts in the container (below right) can also be used as a body scrub. The little roller balls are the concentrate stress-relieving aroma – you can take them with you anywhere and use them by rolling them in your palm, then you rub your palms together and cup them around your nose. Great for relieving stress and tension anywhere, anytime!

 Stress-Fix Aromalogy Body Care

I’ll tell you what I really liked – these pure-fume Chakra balancing body mists. I’m not a fan of New Age anything but I do believe there has to be vital energy which is why I absolutely abhor being around people with negative auras. Some people can send off such negative vibes and energy, don’t you think? Maybe there is a bit of New Age in me after all.

To know which is your pure-fume Chakra balancing body mist of which there are 7, one starts by choosing 2 among these 7 Chakra cards:-

Chakra cards

Choose the 2 colours and descriptions that most appeal to you, then they correspond to the pure-fume Chakra balancing body mists stated on the other side of the card. 2 of the mists will be sprayed around you with your eyes closed and you choose between the 2 scents. The one you choose will be the one which best describes you. Fascinating what one can learn from this experience.

 Chakra aroma bottles

Aveda will be opening their hair salon at Pavilion in March. Whether you have curly, frizzy, straight, damaged, oily or dry hair, Aveda has the solution for you. There are hair sprays, shine serums and texturizing cremes for different hair types, e.g. fine to coarse hair. I’ll be reviewing a few of their hair products soon.

Aveda’s 438 sq. ft. Experience Center is located on #03-05 Pavilion, open 7 days a week from 10.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. daily. The phone number is 03-2141 0537.